'Hunger Games' attracting all ages

Producers of “The Hunger Games” decided to play it safe, stating earlier this year that there was no guarantee that novelist Suzanne Collins' literary sequels, “Catching Fire” and “Mockingjay,” also would be adapted into follow-up movies.

“We’ll just have to see how well the first movie does,” was a common retort.

It would appear that Lion’s Gate Films now looks forward to bringing all three “Hunger Games” stories to the big screen. After all, the picture opens Friday, and already is a lock to earn more than $100 million in North America just during its first weekend.

Advance tickets were placed on sale Feb. 22. “The Hunger Games” eventually broke the advance ticket sales record previously set by “The Twilight Series: Eclipse” in May 2010. That is considered a phenomenal accomplishment for a film that is a non-sequel.

Web site about.com reported Tuesday that “more than 2,000 ‘Hunger Games’ show times have sold out, and the movie hasn’t even opened yet."

Cinemark’s Tinseltown 17 and Movies 16 in Lubbock have had no trouble also selling out advance showings of the movie at midnight Thursday night.

Check back at lubbockonliune.com or see Wednesday's Avalanche-Journal for the full story.